An interview with Anya Taylor-Joy has gone viral, after the Super Mario Galaxy Movie actress was awkwardly asked to describe a connection between her Mushroom Kingdom character Princess Peach and the legendary muscian Joni Mitchell.
Taylor-Joy was asked the question by NBC’s Today host Craig Melvin, after he mentioned rumors that the actress was set to potentially portray Mitchell in an upcoming biopic — something she declined to discuss in more detail.
Melvin then pivoted to asking her “What’s the connection there?” between Mitchell and Peach, leading to a brief moment of pause, before Taylor-Joy took a valiant stab. A clip of the moment, below, has now had 4.2 million views on X/Twitter.
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“You’re rumored to be playing Joni Mitchell, speaking of throughlines,” Melvin began. “One of the, arguably, most singularly important women in music over the last generation or so. Princess Peach, one of the most iconic women in gaming history. What’s the connection there?”
“What’s the connection between Joni and Princess Peach?” Taylor-Joy repeats back, as if trying to confirm she really had just been asked that question.
In response, Melvin confirms that is indeed what he’s asking.
“They’re both singular, you can’t touch them,” she ultimately responded. “They’re in a league of their own.”
Taylor-Joy is currently on the promotion trail for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, ahead of its impending arrival on April 1. While we’ve now seen the film’s final trailer, Nintendo is still rolling out new clips and teases, including this week’s confirmation that Pikmin will make some kind of (probably quite brief) appearance. Other deep cut characters also now locked in to appear include Wart and ROB.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie stars Brie Larsen as Rosalina, Donald Glover as Luigi and Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr., alongside the returning cast from the first film: Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek.
Is still Nintendo hiding more characters? A UK theater chain previously suggested Wario was in the film, though there’s no sign of him yet. Some hopeful Nintendo fans even think Star Fox will make an appearance, which seems optimistic — though if you can find a connection between Joni Mitchell and Princess Peach, anything’s possible.
Image credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Universal Pictures, Nintendo and Illumination.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social